Proposal opp - what should I do?

Wondered if I could ask what you think. Hopefully this all makes sense without too much detail.

I am a marketing freelancer in a smallish niche market/skill set. Through a recommendation I have been sent a ITT. The budget is quite large (£00,000s). I can do most of the work, but there is a service A that I have dabbled in which is required, but due to the size of the budget I think the org is probably expecting an expert in that service.

I am interested in the project and would like to do the actual work.

A complication is that I am away (not movable, hols abroad) for the diarised pitch day. It will involve a few ppl on their side, including a range of stakeholders, so realistically I think them being willing to move it is unlikely. Although the org has suggested I send in the EOI anyway and then they'll consider the issue if they are interested in me.

So, I was planning to respond to the EOI with a provider of service A I know. They have lots of experience in the niche, so I think it would have been a strong EOI.

However, the service A provided has just told me they won't be going forward with it. They didn't really give me a clear idea why. I get the sense they are busy and I wonder if they think this ITT isn't a good probability (it sounds like the ITT org has approached quite a few ppl) esp with the potential of me not being able to attend the pitch if they stick to the date.

I also wonder if they as a company, are concerned about being the bought-in help from a freelancer. They do know me, but we have no experience of working on projects together. I am guessing they'd prefer to be the lead. I don't think they could do the project without someone like me.

So, I have a week left to produce an EOI if I am to go for it. I am drowning in work myself (sat here working) so the rational person in me, says "leave it". However, I find it difficult to pass off opps! It is an interesting project and I have a couple of very similar case study projects that I can draw on.

There is a person B that is as experienced as me, who potentially could do the pitch. But their day rate is enormous and we have pitched before (on opps that came via them) and haven't got any of them due to price. Feedback has been very critical of the high day rate. So I had recently said I don't want to work on any more proposals at that rate.

They are also not an expert in service A, so I still think we'd be left with a gap, although they might be more confident to do service A than I am. But if I get them involved I have to split the work. We also had a small misunderstanding over something and I feel things aren't as they were.

I do have person C, who has a bit of experience but not as much as me and person B, but I feel I am on better terms with them. I could potentially pay them to draft the EOI as I am so stacked this week.

And/or I could potentially try to find a freelancer for service A, but I am nervous about working with somebody that I have no idea about the quality of their work and obviously I only have a week to do it.

There are other companies that provide service A, but I just think they might have the same reservations (albeit I don't really know the full story) as the original supplier I spoke with. And the original supplier has so much experience in the niche.

Walk away. Once you go it'll be instantly forgotten. Tell the company you aren't bidding due to availability for pitch and lack of partner for service A. If they fail to find someone decent then they can re-tender in a different format to suit you.